Atkins had her family behind her in Lucknow

But thay could not, even in their wildest dreams, have imagined how Caroline would repay their presence in Lucknow.

Superbly aided and abetted by fellow opener Arran Thompson, the birthday girl added exactly 200 runs for the first wicket.

And in the process they smashed the previous world record for an opening partnership in women's Test cricket.

Caroline's tired but obvious delight at her innings was only surpassed by the rest of the Atkins clan causing mayhem in the press box, making sure everyone knew about the achievement.

One-man army

The England team's only real regular overseas supporter over the last few years was also at the one-off Test in Lucknow.

Julian Lillington, a 42-year-old taxi driver from Essex, saw his first England women's match back in the summer of 1993 when England hosted the World Cup.

Since then he's been hooked and, although this is his first trip to the sub-continent, Julian has been a familiar face for England at series as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

In fact his presence in Australia saw a number of publications run stories on him as a "One Man Barmy Army".

Julian's old-fashioned horn that travels the world with him saw plenty of action during that record-breaking opening stand.

But it's uncanny resemblance to the sound of the horns that blare out on the majority of Lucknow's buses had members of the lively crowd diving for cover every time he gave it a honk.

Steve McVeagh: English cricket's most loyal supporter

Also in Lucknow was Steve McVeagh, who is fast establishing himself as a prime candidate for the coveted, yet wholly unofficial, Fan of the Tour award.

After seeing all of the England men's games before Christmas and the two women's one-dayers in Hyderabad, Steve only intended to see the first two days in Lucknow before hooking up with the men in Calcutta.

However, the fighting England performance and the sniff of victory on foreign soil ensured Steve's presence for the whole match.

He then rushed off to Calcutta to arrive a couple of hours before play began at Eden Gardens.

Steve now intends to get to five of England's six one-day games before he begins the mammoth trip back to the UK by land.

Bus boy

Finally, being the only England supporter at Bombay's compact MIG Ground did have one very beneficial side effect.

Jane Powell, England's assistant manager, took pity on me and invited me to the England balcony for breakfast as I arrived at 7.30am in the morning after three hours negotiating Bombay's suburban rail network,

And she also arranged a seat for me on the England coach for the drive to Pune.

So instead of fighting my way to the cheap seats on the train that, even over here, are known to locals as "Cattle Class", I shared the armed police escort of the players.

There was also the opportunity to get all the juicy gossip from the England camp.

It was a slightly surreal journey for a tight-wallet backpacker like me but, thanks to Jane's generosity, one I shall never forget.